Abstract:

Mechanics is a branch of classical physics that deals with the behavior of physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the bodies on their environment. At elementary school, it helps the students to better come to understand many occurrences of daily living. At university, it is particularly interesting in the current Mechanical Engineering degrees as it supports the design of any mechanism or machine. Future engineers must learn how to apply basic principles that assist in the understanding, problem-solving, and design of mechanical systems.

In the Mechanics problem-solving procedures, a well-known maxim is that individuals should not start thinking based on equations, but they have to bear in mind the course of reasoning by understanding how any new and unfamiliar mechanism works. Later on, subsequent formulae and mathematics rise from that prior understanding. Thus, Mechanical principles and mathematical handlings should be introduced gradually.

Classical Mechanics is divided into three main branches: Statics (the study of equilibrium), Kinematics (dealing with the description of observed motions), and Dynamics (the study of motion and its relation to forces). Traditional classroom materials are founded on motionless resources (textbooks with images and sketches). Textbooks’ great value is the wide variety of problem types, i.e. with a diversity of configurations and situations, for each topic. Particularly in Kinematics and Dynamics problem statements, student is asked to solve the forces, velocities and accelerations of a mechanism in a particular instant of time, depicted on an image of that particular frame. This needs of the imagination of the student to visualize the problems to be analyzed. Many times, students misconceive how an assembled mechanism moves because their minds usually persist focused on the static image of any problem statement.

At the Universitat Jaume I (UJI, Spain), Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) systems have demonstrated to be powerful tools to teach Mechanics, since simulating mechanisms allows varying parameters and visualizing actions that otherwise would remain static on paper [1]. By solving a narrow range of similar (non-identical) experiences with Working Model 2D (WM2D) [2], our students can more easily embrace the basic fundamentals of both Kinematics and Dynamics, rather than memorize an independent method for solving each type of problem [3][4]. However, students still fail acquiring some competences in parallel, namely, learning how to use CAE programs.

New educational materials generated with WM2D have been introduced during this course, together with the concept of flipped classroom [5]. For this purpose:
a) Five different exercises that students have solved on their regular theoretical classes have been also proposed to be solved in a teacher-assisted WM2D laboratory.
b) Their corresponding implementation has been recorded and facilitated to the students prior to that laboratory through Youtube (e.g. [6]). The students have been asked to practice before the laboratory session.
c) At the laboratory, students have to demonstrate their skills not only with the software but also solving the problem, promoting expertise and fluency at once.

In the present study, we describe the advantages and the preliminary results of a flipped teaching methodology assisted with CAE simulated experiences in the Mechanics lectures of several Engineering degrees at UJI.

Keywords:

Flipped teaching, flipped classroom, Mechanics.